Animation is not only about adding movements to the still characters or scenes. It’s actually a concept of storytelling. Every animated movie, game, and video has a strong foundation built with the help of drawing and storyboarding. They both are the most important elements of animation training. Understanding of these elements helps in building a strong base for learners to express their emotions through characters and ideas. No matter whether you are learning a 2d animation course or a 3d animation course in Delhi. Understanding the importance of drawing and storyboarding in animation is important. 

In this blog, we will gonna explore these skills, why they are so important.

Importance of Drawing and Storyboarding in Animation

1. Drawing: The foundation of animation

Why does drawing matter in animation?

It is the first step in animation to start your journey. It explains to students how to visualize, optimize the animation. Even the software like rigging and modeling is used, still sketching the most important step. 

Benefits of Drawing for Animators

• Visual Thinking, it’s helps animators to think quickly and visually, translate ideas into a scene. 
• Character Development, Under the character, students explore the character, like body language, proportions, etc
• Anatomy and Movement, Have you heard about life drawings? It teaches natural movement. This is quite difficult for believable animations. 
• Creative Confidence: With proper practice, you build up an unshakable confidence within your creative skills. This improves your design thinking also. 

Animator Tip– Glen Keane( Disney legend)

“ Draw every day. Don’t worry about being perfect. Keep your pencil moving. The more you draw, the better you see.”

Example: Glen Keane used thousands of sketches to get Ariel’s expressive eyes and hair movement in “The Little Mermaid. This was his most iconic Disney animated character.

Pro Tips for Drawing in Animation

• Try to use gesture drawing to capture small movements in a second
• Must practice life drawing weekly, because human anatomy is the key to realism.
• Draw from imagination, and a reference that makes balanced creativity

Learn Human Anatomy in just 10 Minutes

2. Storyboarding: The Blueprint of Animation

What is Storyboarding?

Storyboarding is a sequence of drawings that is used later in making a scene. Or we can say, it is the process of creating a sequence of drawings that represent the shots. 

Why is Storyboarding important?

• Visual Narrative: It breaks out the story visually, shot by shot, which helps animators and directors understand accurate scene flow.
• Saves Time and Resources: If your script is already made, then it reduces the time of the storyboard, and saves time for reshoots and wasted efforts.
• Camera Angels and Timing: It also defines a perfect camera angle, transitions, and shot durations.
• Team Communication: Storyboarding is done by only one person; it serves as a visual script for the entire production team. 

Example: In Pixar’s Up, Carl and Ellie were carefully crafted using the storyboards. So, here is what helped the team in refining the emotional journey. This saves their time on unnecessary animation. 

Storyboarding Tips

Tip from Amma Cort(Former Pixar Story Artist)

“ When you are stuck, draw the scenes from different characters’ points of view, It gives you new ideas and emotions.”

Pro Tips for Storyboarding

• Start with small sketches, which help plan easily
• Use dynamic angles, high and low camera angles, and variety and drama
• Focus on clarity, each panel understands clearly
• Show, don’t tell; Tell the story through images, not the words.

Check out the steps of Storyboarding in Animation

3. Integration in Animation Education

How an Animation Training Centre teaches these skills

The professional and the best animation Institutes in Delhi teach drawing and storyboarding in the first semester. Education and Training institutions like ADMEC Multimedia Institute, trying to teach their students strong sketching and visual storytelling skills. Then they move to digital animation tools like Blender, Maya, Adobe, and Character Animate. 

Topics Covered Under the Courses

• Character Design
• Layout and Composition
• Gesture Drawing
• Script to Storyboard Translation
• Digital Storyboarding Techniques

Students in the 3D Animation Course in Delhi, always wonder why they need to draw, but they need to understand that concept art and pre-visualization are important even in CGI productions. 

Tools and Software, which are in use 

Traditional drawings is important, as we know. But somehow, Tools and softwares are also taught under the course. So, these are tools:

• Adobe Photoshop: Photoshop is really an amazing tool, and it is mostly used. It is best for character design and digital sketching
• Sketchbook: A Friendly and lightweight tool. Best tool for beginners
• Wacom Tablets: This is used for digital drawings and stroke pressure. You feel complicated using this in the beginning, but after a few days, you will absolutely enjoy working with it. 

Learning these tools will definitely have advantages and also enhance speed and flexibility. If you are aiming to do a job in a fast-paced animation studio. Then you must learn these tools. 

Career Benefits of Drawing and Storyboarding Skills

The more perfect skills you have in storyboarding and drawing. The more you find career opportunities in it. Check what career profiles are there for you to join as:

• Character Designer
• Concept Artist
• Storyboard Artists
• Layout Artist
• Animator Director
• Pre-Visualization Specialist

All these roles have their own value and a good salary package in the Industry. These are highly in demand in the Film Industry, Gaming, Advertising, E-learning Sectors, etc. 

Tips for Students to Improve

If you are all set to join a diploma course in animation, then you have a look at these tips: 

• Get a habit of drawing daily, draw sketches of poses, animals, people, etc
• Watch animated movies frame by frame, every evening, and observe how scenes are composed and the transitions are made.
• Read Novels, Comics. This helps you to understand panel layouts, etc
• Create Mini Storyboards, pick short scenes of your own stories, and visualize them. 

Conclusion

In the full animation, drawings and storyboarding are not just optional. They are necessary now. These skills will help students in visualizing their ideas, improve storytelling, Also improve communication, and can communicate effectively with their teams. Whether you are learning 2D or 3D animation courses, learning these skills will open a wide range of career opportunities for you. If you are a professional in sketching and storyboarding, you will build a strong career foundation in the future. 

You can join Animation courses from ADMEC Multimedia Institute, too

As we have been providing training since 2006, we don’t just provide animation courses; we have many courses like Graphic Design, Video Editing, short-term courses, like Adobe Photoshop, Blender, Maya, etc. Also, if you want placement support with the courses, then you have landed at the right place. We are providing expert training with 100% Placement Support*. You can visit us once, or search on Google.